How Are Leadership Programs Empowering Our Vulnerable Children and Youth? A Scoping Review

Kirsty Bastable (), Paul Cooke, Lou Harvey, Victoria Olarte, Jodi Zimmerman and Shakila Dada
Additional contact information
Kirsty Bastable: Centre for Augmentative and Alternative Communication, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0028, South Africa
Paul Cooke: Centre for World Cinemas and Digital Cultures, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
Lou Harvey: School of Education, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
Victoria Olarte: Hope and Homes for Children, Wiltshire SP3 4LZ, UK
Jodi Zimmerman: Centre for Augmentative and Alternative Communication, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0028, South Africa
Shakila Dada: Centre for Augmentative and Alternative Communication, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0028, South Africa

Social Sciences, 2022, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-24

Abstract: Globally vulnerable populations are negatively impacted by policy and practice. For vulnerable youth, risks to growth, development, and a lack of participation in decisions about their lives are common. Leadership programs are frequently implemented to address the risks faced by vulnerable youth. This review sought to describe the goals, content, and outcomes of existing youth development programs to better understand if they are meeting the needs of vulnerable youth. A scoping review was conducted using the PRISMA-ScR methodology. Ten electronic databases and grey literature were searched. A total of 89 youth development programs were identified. The goals, content, and outcomes of the programs were thematically analyzed. Four foci emerged, namely, youth, relationship, community, and social justice-focused development. A youth focus was most commonly represented, and the social justice focus was the least represented. Most programs addressed only one focus area. If youth development programs are to provide youth with both the skills to engage with and opportunities to change their circumstances, then all four focus areas need to be included. Secondly, a need for the active involvement of youth in both the planning and implementation of programs was identified. Finally, safeguarding needs to be highlighted in any program working with vulnerable youth.

Keywords: vulnerable children and youth; development programs; stakeholder involvement; downward accountability; empowerment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/12/1/2/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/12/1/2/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:12:y:2022:i:1:p:2-:d:1008779

Access Statistics for this article

Social Sciences is currently edited by Ms. Yvonne Chu

More articles in Social Sciences from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().